Is Tungsten Bay?

First of all, I am no color expert, at all. Anyway, I always assumed Tungsten is bay because he has black points. However, he does not have black points on his ears at all. His coat is pretty bleached right not because he is out 8 hours a day, weather permitting.

I have only have him for 4 months. His winter coat was so dark it looked black. When he shed, but before the weather permitted good turnout, he stayed pretty dark, but now he is really bleached and I have no idea. His face does not bleach and he does not have dark points on his ears.

Oh and here is his mom and dad

I would say that he is either a fading black or a smoky black. He may have inherited a cream gene from his dam. His lighter color in those pictures seems to be more sun fading than actual color difference to me.

Is fading black a color or literally fading black?

No, it's just black but there is something in the hair that makes it more prone to sun bleaching and fading out. So there really isn't a gene for the "fading" part of it...that I know of anyway.

Fading black is a horse who is genetically black that gets sun bleached. A non-fading black doesn't. They aren't sure what is the difference yet on a genetic level though, as both types can be heterozygous or homozygous. I lean towards smoky black too though - a black horse with one cream gene

ETA: Snap Smrobs

What's a buckskin? A Cr gene and a black gene with a agouti gene?

He could be a dark bay, black (which I doubt), or a smokey black. I'm leaning towards dark bay, as the bleaching on his body very obviously stops at the legs and it seems very uniform.

Here's my DNA tested smokey black colt:



You can also see the white/blonde hairs in his tail, which he still has at three years old ;)

The problem with smoky black is that it can be anywhere from light like your boy, right through to no different from non-fading black. It is one of those colours that can only ever be confirmed by testing, or by knowing exactly what the parents are passing on.

Mayfield: for dark bay wouldn't he still have to have tipped ears or lighter color around his eyes?

Mayfieldk, a buckskin is black+2 cream genes+agouti. 1 cream gene would be bay.

Of course, the only way to know 100% would be to have him tested, but I would bet money on either black or smoky black.